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The Lost Family

By Jenna Blum

Paperback

£9.99

The Lost Family is a charming, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love that spans a generation, from the 1960s to the 1980s. It is a vivid portrait of marriage, family, and the haunting grief of World War II.

'A dazzling novel of great compassion' Laura Moriarty'An extraordinary read, the kind of book that makes you sob and smile' Tatiana de Rosnay

'Blum plumbs the depths of loss and love in this exquisite page-turner' People

In 1960s Manhattan, patrons flock to Masha's to savor its brisket Wellington and impeccable service, and to admire its dashing owner and head chef, Peter Rashkin. With his movie-star good looks and tragic past, Peter, a survivor of Auschwitz, is the most eligible bachelor in town. But he has resigned himself to a solitary life. Running Masha's consumes him, as does the terrible guilt of having survived the horrors of a Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha - the restaurant's namesake - and two young daughters perished.

Then exquisitely beautiful June Bouquet, an up-and-coming model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter's guard. Though she is twenty years his junior, the two begin a passionate, whirlwind courtship. When June unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Peter proposes, believing that beginning a new family with the woman he loves will allow him to let go of the atrocities of the past, even though he cannot forget all that he has lost. But over the next twenty years, the indelible sadness of those memories will overshadow Peter, his new wife, June, and their daughter, Elsbeth, transforming them in heartbreaking and unexpected ways.

The Lost Family is a charming, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love that spans a generation, from the 1960s to the 1980s. It is a vivid portrait of marriage, family, and the haunting grief of World War II.

Biographical Notes

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us and The Stormchasers and is one of Oprah's Top 30 Women Writers.

Jenna has been writing since she was 4 and professionally since she was 16, when she won Seventeen Magazine's National Fiction Contest with her short story 'The Legacy of Frank Finklestein'. Jenna is a graduate of Kenyon College and Boston University; and has taught fiction for 20 years for Boston's Grub Street Writers, where she currently teaches master novel workshops. Jenna divides her time between Boston and the Midwest of America.

@jenna_blum www.jennablum.com

Other details

ISBN:
9780349134635

Publication date:
08 Nov 2018

Page count:
432

Imprint:
Blackfriars

I was spellbound from the start of The Lost Family. The writing is so smart and empathetic . . . This is a dazzling novel of great compassion, honestly reckoning with the time-and-place-spanning ripple effect of great pain as well as love — Laura Moriarty, New York Times best-selling author of The Chaperone

An unsentimental, richly detailed study of loss and its legacy — Kirkus Reviews

Jenna Blum shines a powerful light on how the past swings back and how we must face it. The Lost Family is an extraordinary read, the kind of book that makes you sob and smile, the kind that gives you hope . . . It is compassionate, masterful and disturbingly contemporary — Tatiana de Rosnay, bestselling author of Sarah’s Key

Deftly executed, deeply moving, and full of heart, Jenna Blum's The Lost Family is an evocative look at the legacy of war and how it impacts one memorable family — Jami Attenberg, bestselling author of The Middlesteins

Little, Brown

The Last Adventure of Napoleon Sunshine

Pascal Ruter

Authors:

Pascal Ruter

At the age of eighty-five my grandfather Napoleon decided he needed to try something new . . . Everything starts to go south when Napoleon leaves his wife. An eighty-five-year-old former boxer with a restless, youthful spirit, Napoleon decides to say to hell with it all! He wants a new life. With his ten-year-old grandson Leonard Sunshine, he embarks on a moving adventure, a rebellion against everything that takes the fun out of life. Above all, Leonard is determined to spare his grandfather the fate of the elderly - his final years spent exiled in a retirement home. The chaotic duo adopt a dog, drive a fake taxi, escape to the seaside, sabotage door-to-door salesmen and plot to kidnap a famous radio star. From the heart of Paris to the coast of Normandy, The Last Adventure of Napoleon Sunshine is a moving, life-affirming and melancholy tale of new beginnings and the importance of family.

The Tenth Muse

Catherine Chung

Authors:

Catherine Chung

The first thing I remember being said of me with any consistency was that I was intelligent - and I recognized even then that it was a comment leveled at me with as much disapproval as admiration. Still, I never tried to hide or suppress my mind as some girls do, and thank god, because that would have been the beginning of the end.From childhood, Katherine knows she is different, and that her parents are not who they seem to be. But in becoming a mathematician, she faces the most human of problems - who is she? What is the cost of love, and what is the cost of ambition? On her quest to conquer the Riemann Hypothesis, the greatest unsolved mathematical problem of her time, she turns to a theorem with a mysterious history that holds both the lock and key to her identity, and to secrets long buried during World War II. Forced to confront some of the biggest events of the twentieth century and rethink everything she knows of herself, Katherine strives to take her place in the world of higher mathematics, reclaiming the voices of the women who came before her whose love of the language of numbers connects them across generations.The Tenth Muse is a brilliant, involving novel asking questions about who gets to tell the story of intellectual endeavour, and those who lost everything during World War II.Praise for The Tenth Muse'Arresting in scope and its treatment of time, its prose at turns crystalline and richly balletic, this story pulls puzzle from puzzle - human, historical and all too contemporary' Helen Oyeyemi

The Greatest Knight

Elizabeth Chadwick

Authors:

Elizabeth Chadwick

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTOR'S EDITION to mark the 800th anniversary of William Marshal's death.A 'Director's Cut' of Elizabeth Chadwick's bestselling and best-loved novel.'An author who makes history come gloriously alive' The Times'Stunning' Barbara Erskine***Elizabeth's new novel TEMPLAR SILKS is OUT NOW in hardback, ebook and audio, and available to pre-order in paperback.*** ************************************Normandy, 1167 A penniless young knight with few prospects, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II's formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor to the heir to the throne. However, being a royal favourite brings its share of conflict and envy as well as fame and reward. William's influence over the volatile, fickle Prince Henry and his young wife is resented by less favoured courtiers who set about engineering his downfall. In a captivating blend of fact and fiction, Elizabeth Chadwick resurrects one of England's greatest forgotten heroes, restoring him to his rightful place at the apex of the Middle Ages.Praise for Elizabeth Chadwick 'Enjoyable and sensuous' Daily Mail 'Stunning grasp of historical details... Her characters are beguiling and the story is intriguing and very enjoyable' Barbara Erskine 'Meticulous research and strong storytelling' Woman & Home 'A sumptuous ride' Daily Telegraph

The Brink of Being

Julia Bueno

Authors:

Julia Bueno

A captivating mixture of memoir, stories from the consulting room, history and science, The Bring of Being is a much-needed, comprehensive look at an experience that is unfortunately all too common (one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage), and yet still considered taboo. This book by Julia Bueno - a psychotherapist who has herself suffered multiple miscarriages and has been a trustee and volunteer for the Miscarriage Association - will engage with questions around how we respond to women's bodies and reproductive health, our attitudes to birth and death, and how both technology and science impact upon these questions too. It will also be a campaigning book, encouraging more conversations and better support for those who have been affected by miscarriage.The Brink of Being will provide information, history, context and consolation for many women and their loved ones, and is for readers of Ariel Levy, Julia Samuel and Andrew Solomon.

A Woman of No Importance

Sonia Purnell

In the Full Light of the Sun

Clare Clark

Authors:

Clare Clark

In the Full Light of the Sun follows the fortunes of three Berliners caught up in a devastating scandal of 1930s' Germany. It tells the story of Emmeline, a wayward, young art student; Julius, an anxious, middle-aged art expert; and a mysterious art dealer named Rachmann who are at the heart of Weimar Berlin at its hedonistic, politically turbulent apogee and are whipped up into excitement over the surprising discovery of thirty-two previously unknown paintings by Vincent van Gogh.Based on a true story, unfolding through the subsequent rise of Hitler and the Nazis, this gripping tale is about beauty and justice, and the truth that may be found when our most treasured beliefs are revealed as illusions. Brilliant on authenticity, vanity and self-delusion, it is a novel for our times.

Happiness for Beginners

Carole Matthews

Skymeadow

Charlie Hart

Authors:

Charlie Hart

'A love letter to English horticulture written by a passionate gardener. A must-read for anyone who has dreamt of cultivating their own patch of land' Jane Perrone'Skymeadow is a fascinating book . . . Every flower, every passing bud, every change in the season is described with rapture' Jilly CooperWhen Charlie Hart first visited Peverels, a small farmhouse that sits lazily on the lip of a hill running down into the Peb Valley, he was at breaking point, grieving the loss of his father and anxious about the impending death of his mother. He and his wife Sybilla felt that their London life had been steadily growing in noise: the noise of grief, the noise of busyness, the noise that comes from the expectations of others and, for Charlie, the constant clamour of dissatisfaction at work. At Peverels, Charlie found an expanse of untouched meadowland, the perfect setting for an audacious garden. Charlie felt an unquenchable urge to dig, to create something. The days he spent wrestling with the soil in the rose garden were the days in which he mourned the loss of his parents. Gardening has taught him that you can dig for victory, but you can also dig for mental health. As the garden formed around Charlie, he buried his fears and anxieties within it. A garden that is now known as Skymeadow and grows with a lusty, almost biblical vigour.In Skymeadow, Charlie seamlessly weaves together his own memoir with that of his garden. The result is a lyrical and incisive story of mental health at an all-time low, the healing powers of digging and, ultimately, a celebration of nature.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – The Original Screenplay

J.K. Rowling

Authors:

J.K. Rowling

The Wizarding World journey continues . . .The powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured in New York with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escapes custody and sets about gathering followers, most of whom are unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.In an effort to thwart Grindelwald's plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists Newt, his former Hogwarts student, who agrees to help once again, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second screenplay in a five-film series to be written by J.K. Rowling, author of the internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Set in 1927, a few months after the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and moving from New York to London, Paris and even back to Hogwarts, this story of mystery and magic reveals an extraordinary new chapter in the wizarding world. Illustrated with stunning line art from MinaLima with some surprising nods to the Harry Potter stories that will delight fans of both the books and films.

J. D. Robb

'Rock and Roll is Life'

D.J. Taylor

Calypso

David Sedaris

A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald

Natasha Lester

Authors:

Natasha Lester

**THE FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHER is now available to pre-order in ebook**PRAISE FOR NATASHA LESTER...'A fantastically engrossing story. I love it' KELLY RIMMER'Intrigue, heartbreak... I cannot tell you how much I loved this book' RACHEL BURTON'A gorgeously rich and romantic novel' KATE FORSYTHA Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald is a deliciously evocative love story of a small-town girl with big ambitions in 1920s New York. Perfect for fans of The Paris Wife, Gill Paul, Kate Furnivall and Penny Vincenzi.***It's the Roaring Twenties in the Manhattan of gin, jazz and prosperity. Women wear makeup and hitched hemlines and enjoy a new freedom to vote and work. Not so for Evelyn Lockhart, who is forbidden from pursuing her passion to become one of the first female doctors. Chasing her dream will mean turning her back on her family: her competitive sister, Viola; her conservative parents; and the childhood best friend she is expected to marry, Charlie. In a desperate attempt to support herself through Columbia University's medical school, Evie auditions for the infamous late-night Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. But if she gets the part, what will it mean for her fledgling relationship with Upper East Side banker Thomas Whitman - a man Evie thinks she could fall in love with, if only she lived a life less scandalous . . . Captivating, heartwarming, and inspiring A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald stars a young woman ahead of her time amid the fragile hearts and glamour of Jazz Age New York.MORE PRAISE FOR NATASHA LESTER...'If you enjoy historical fiction (and even if you don't) you will love this book' Sally Hepworth'Stunning . . . Will have you captivated' Liz Byrski'This romance will have you enchanted' Woman's Day'Natasha Lester is our generation's Louisa May Alcott' Tess Woods'What a GEM!' Sara Foster'Natasha Lester brings bold, brave women to life' Courier Mail 'I love this book' Rachael Johns'Exquisite!' Vanessa Carnevale'Engaging' Herald Sun'An essential addition to Australian fiction' AusRomToday'Utterly compelling' Good Reading 'Emotion that will touch your heart and soul deeply' Jodi Gibson 'Fascinating, evocative and meticulously researched' Annabel Abbs'Entertaining and provocative' Perth Festival 'Lester has woven a fine, original story of everlasting quality.' BetterReading 'A captivating tale' Daily Examiner 'A delightful and multi-faceted romp through the jazz era' Natalie Salvo 'Excellent historical fiction' The Book Muse 'You will love this even if you're not a regular reader of historical fiction' Jess Just Reads 'Storytelling at its finest' Great Reads & Tea Leaves

The Colossus of New York

Colson Whitehead

Authors:

Colson Whitehead

In a dazzlingly original work of non-fiction, the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Underground Railroad recreates the exuberance, the chaos, the promise, and the heartbreak of New York. Here is a literary love song that will entrance anyone who has lived in - or spent time - in the greatest of American cities.A masterful evocation of the city that never sleeps, The Colossus of New York captures the city's inner and outer landscapes in a series of vignettes, meditations, and personal memories. Colson Whitehead conveys with almost uncanny immediacy the feelings and thoughts of longtime residents and of newcomers who dream of making it their home; of those who have conquered its challenges; and of those who struggle against its cruelties. Whitehead's style is as multilayered and multifarious as New York itself: Switching from third person, to first person, to second person, he weaves individual voices into a jazzy musical composition that perfectly reflects the way we experience the city. There is a funny, knowing riff on what it feels like to arrive in New York for the first time; a lyrical meditation on how the city is transformed by an unexpected rain shower; and a wry look at the ferocious battle that is commuting. The plaintive notes of the lonely and dispossessed resound in one passage, while another captures those magical moments when the city seems to be talking directly to you, inviting you to become one with its rhythms. The Colossus of New York is a remarkable portrait of life in the big city. Ambitious in scope, gemlike in its details, it is at once an unparalleled tribute to New York and the ideal introduction to one of the most exciting writers working today.

Deadfall

Linda Fairstein

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

J.K. Rowling

Authors:

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling invites you to explore a new era of the Wizarding World . . .When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone . . .Inspired by the original Hogwart's textbook by Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original screenplay marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. A feat of imagination and featuring a cast of remarkable characters and magical creatures, this is epic adventure-packed storytelling at its very best. Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition for any film lover or reader's bookshelf.*** Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is available now! ***

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two (Special Rehearsal Edition)

J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne

When the War Is Over

Barbara Fox

Authors:

Barbara Fox

THE TOUCHING TRUE STORYTwo young Second World War evacueesFar from home, far from family, safe from the warGwenda and Douglas Brady were among the millions of British children sent to live with new families for their own safety during the Second World War, leaving behind their parents, their friends and all that felt familiar and safe. Evacuation could be a scary experience, but five-year-old Gwenda and her brother were lucky enough to be housed with a kindly schoolmaster and his wife, and soon the realities of the war felt very far away.WHEN THE WAR IS OVER touchingly tells the story of how Gwenda and Doug found a second family and a loving home in the remote Lake District village of Bampton . . . and how the war touched the lives of everyone, even those far, far away from the big cities.Readers love WHEN THE WAR IS OVER:'One of the very best books I have ever read without a doubt. A wonderful HEARTWARMING story''A RIVETING read''All the people really came to life''A WONDERFUL record''True stories of life and VERY ENTERTAINING''NOSTALGIC and ENJOYABLE''An intimate record of what it was like as a young child being evacuated in WWII'

Dilly's Lass

Rosie Goodwin

Authors:

Rosie Goodwin

Years ago Dilly made the devastating decision to give her baby daughter to wealthy local family, the Farthings. She is still living with the consequences of her choice when the daughter she gave away all those years ago turns up on Dilly's doorstep, with a baby girl in tow, begging for help. Olivia has a secret she only feels safe telling Dilly.Sworn to secrecy, Dilly agrees to help, delighted to be spending time with her new granddaughter and daughter. She can't tell Max Farthing, the man who took in Olivia all those years ago and who Dilly has feelings for. For Max has problems of his own: he's married to Camilla, who has lost leave of her senses. Could Dilly and Max ever come together?Dilly's Lass is a wonderfully heartfelt portrayal of families beginning to rebuild after WW1, from much-loved author Rosie Goodwin.